I received a free audio copy courtesy of the author’s assistant in exchange for a fair and honest review.

So. Mermaids. Yes, I am shallow enough that a story having mermaids is enough to entice me to want to read the book (or listen in this case). But it was so worth it. This is a fairly engaging story.

I didn’t particularly care for the bad guy in this book. Or the type of dog he had (which hits my max height requirement for calling them yappy ankle biters). But regardless of my feelings towards the dog, I still didn’t like the whole near end of having to rescue the dog. Much as I don’t like what I call yappy ankle biters I’d never wish or want to do that to one of them (and yes, I do own one which shows that even though I dislike them I’ll still own them because dogs).

I ADORED Eddie and how well Shelly and Tillman interacted with him. Though granted some of his behaviours would not mesh well with my own autism nor would they mesh well with my brother’s. I also appreciate that the author has a child who is autistic and that her portrayal of autistic people is at least as authentic as you can get writing autistic characters without actually being autistic. Eddie wasn’t shown as being the bad guy just because his brain works differently than the ‘norm’. Which is fantastic to see. Seeing positive or neutral relatable characters in media makes you feel a little less alone in the world. Or at least it does for me and most of the autistic people I know. Because you can only see people like you shown as villains and bad guys so much until you start becoming afraid. Both of seeing yet another portrayal of someone like you as bad or a villain and of becoming ‘bad’ or a villain.

I also like the growth from Tillman and Eddie’s mother. How she goes from useless asshole to learning and growing up and being a responsible adult.

Overall, this was a pretty good story and if you like mermaids and portrayals of mermaids as things other than just pretty half human half fish people, you’ll probably enjoy this story.